Manifold case

ABSTRACT

Two identical package halves are vacuum formed from a relatively thin plastic sheet. Along the bottom and along two side edges there are flanges with mating protuberances and sockets which snap together to hold the two halves together. Between the two ends there are a plurality of vertical pockets in each half. At the top of the pockets there is a slanting wall having openings therein through which the objects to be held in the pockets extend. A cap fits over the top of these objects and the slanting walls and snaps into place. At two locations along the bottom edge are a pair of bulges forming feet.

United States Patent Mascetti, Jr.

[ MANIFOLD CASE [72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Plastofilm Industries, Inc., Wheaton,

Ill.

[22] Filed: v Nov. 20, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 91,231

[52] US. Cl ..229/2.5 [51] Int. Cl. "B6511 1/00 [58] Field of Search..229 /2.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 ,342,397 9/1967 Duitsman..229/2.5 3,498,523 3/1970 Stembridge et a1. ....229/2.5 X 2,961,12311/1960 Boydak et a]. ..229/2.5 X 3,305,086 2/1967 Hartman, Jr ..229/2.5X 3,351,270 ll/l967 Hohnjec ..229/2.5 X 3,355,084 11/1967 Donovan..229/2.5 X

Joseph A. Mascetti, Jr., Geneva, Ill.

5; 3,695,503 [4 1 Oct. 3, 1972 3,383,559 6/1971 Brander ..229/2.s x

FOREIGN PATENTS on APPLICATIONS 453,195 3/1968 Switzerland ..229 2.s

Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead Att0mey-Darbo, Robertson &Vandenburgh [57] ABSTRACT Two identical package halvesv are vacuumformed from a relatively thin plastic sheet. Along the bottom and alongtwo side edges there are flanges with mating protuberances and socketswhich snap together to hold the two halves together. Between the twoends there are a plurality of vertical pockets in each half. At the topof the pockets there is a slanting wall having openings therein throughwhich the objects to be held in the pockets extend. A cap fits over thetop of these objects and the slanting walls and snaps into place. At twolocations along the bottom edge are a pair of bulges forming feet.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures MANIFOLD CASE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to an inexpensive package for protectivelypackaging tubular objects.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a package madein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view, partially broken away, of the embodiment of FIG.1;

, DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT The following disclosure is offeredfor public dissemination in return for the grant of a patent. Althoughit is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is notintended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover eachnew inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise itby variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claimsat the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose, asit is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

The package illustrated in the drawing comprises two package halves,generally and 10', and a cap, generally 11; All of these are vacuumformed from a relatively thin sheet of thermoplastic resin (plastic).The two package halves are identical and thus can be formed from acommon mold. One of these 10 is described specifically. The same numberswith a prime added are applied to the other 10' in the drawings.

Along the two ends of the package half, or precursor, are flanges 13 and14 and a flange 15 extends along the bottom. Flange 13 and the adjacenthalf of flange 15 has a conformation which defines a protrusion 17 onone side of the flange and a corresponding socket 18 on the oppositeside. The other half of flange l5 and flange l4 defines a protuberance19 and a socket 20 on opposite sides of the sheet. As best seen in FIG.4, the protuberances are largest adjacent their distal ends (in the formof a rim about the protuberance adjacent the distal ends) and thesockets are largest adjacent their distal ends and are constricted byinwardly extending rims adjacent their proximal ends. This form might bereferred to as an undercut which is formed by molding. It provides ameans by which the two halves can be locked together.

Between the two ends are a plurality of molded pockets 22 set off fromeach other by dividers formed by spaced walls 23. At their inner ends aportion of the walls are flared outwardly, as indicated at 24, to aid inretaining objects 25 safely in the pocket.

Along the bottom flange 15 are a pair of bulges 27 and 28. These formfeet to cause the finished package to stand up right on a level surface.Like the protuberances and the sockets, these are symmetrical about thecenter line of the package.

Above the pockets 27 is ,an inclined wall 30 supported by angulargussets 31 at each end. This angular wall 30 has a step which forms anundercut or socket 32 for holding the cap 1 1 in place. The angular wall30 has its inward end in the plane of the flanges 13-15 where it extendsinto a vertical wall 33. Vertical wall 33 has an opening 34 at the topthereof and spaced from the center line of the precursor.

Adjacent the bottom of the cap 11 it has an inwardly extending ridge 36which fits into the socket 32 about the top portion of the packagethereby locking the cap in place. On each side of the cap are a pair ofinwardly extending angular slots 37 formed by spaced walls 38 connectedby band 39.

All of the pieces are ideally suited to vacuum molding. The two packagehalves can be made on a single mold and the cap 11 on a second mold.They are symmetrical about a vertical centerline as viewed in Fig. 1 or2. After molding, the two halves are positioned with their flanges injuxtaposition. The protuberance 17 of end 13' is inserted into thesocket 20 of end 14. The protuberance 17 of end 13 fits into socket 20of end 14'. Because of the undercut formation of the protuberances andthe sockets the parts snap together and securely lock. If one shoulddesire to pull them apart, a finger is inserted into each of theopenings 34, 34' and pressed against the adjacent wall 33', 33,respectively, to exert sufficient force to separate the protuberancesfrom the sockets.

When the two halves have been assembled, the ob jects 25 then areinserted into the pockets 22, 22' through openings 29 in the inclinedwall 30. A wide variety of objects could be packaged in this fashion,such as suppositories, vials of medicine, bottles of food coloring, etc.The cap is then placed over the packaged objects. The ridge 36 fittinginto socket 32 not only holds the cap against displacement (and thus theobjects 25 in the package), but it also provides a remarkably effectivehermetic seal. This seal is not absolutely air-tight but it does have asubstantial effect in preventing the drying out of, or picking upmoisture by, the objects in the package.

Packages produced in accordance with the present invention have a numberof significant advantages. They are very inexpensive to produce yet theyprovide an attractive package appearance. This appearance may be variedand/or enhanced by the use of differently appearing plastics. One halfmay be one color and the other half another color or transparent. Thecover 11 can be transparent or a contrasting color. This offers numerouspossibilities to the package designer.

The package is ideally suited to be produced and filled entirely byautomatic machines with no manual intervention involved. The objects canbe loaded either before or after the two package halves are puttogether. The walls 23 between the objects, in conjunction with theflares 24, do a remarkable job of holding and cushioning the packagedobjects, as do walls 30, 33. The very fact that a relatively thinplastic is employed supplies some resilience to aid in the cushioning.At the same time, the various indentations, e.g. walls 23 and 38, aswell as the protrusions and sockets about the peripheral flanges, supplya remarkable amount of rigidity to the overall package. The termrelatively thin plastic is employed herein to identify those thicknessesthat are particularly suited for vacuum molding as known to thoseskilled in that art.

As best seen in FIG. 4, the outer sides are tapered which facilitatestheir extraction from a carton holding a substantial number of suchpackages. This taper also supplies a bulge just above the middle of thepackage which has a cushioning effect.

I claim:

, l. A package half for use with an identical half to form a package,said half being vacuum formed of relatively thin plastic, said halfhaving a marginal flange about at least a portion of the half, saidflange having a side which faces the corresponding side of the otherhalf when the two halves are assembled, said flange having two partsextending therealong and symmetrically positioned with respect to saidhalf, one part having a first conformation therein which extendssubstantially the length of said part and defines a first socket on saidside and a first protuberance on the other side, the other part having asecond conformation therein which extends substantially the length ofsaid part and defines a second protuberance on said side and a secondsocket on the other side, said protuberances having relatively long sidewalls and. being relatively narrow, said second protuberance being of asize to fit into said first socket, said conformations includinginterengaging means in said side walls to lock said second protuberancein said first socket when two of said halves are assembled.

2. A package half as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means comprisesa peripheral enlargement adjacent the distal end of the secondprotuberance and a peripheral enlargement adjacent the proximal end ofthe socket.

. 3. A package half as set forth in claim 1, wherein said flange extendsalong opposite ends and an adjacent edge of the half, said half, betweensaid ends defining a plurality of pockets parallel to the ends and eachadjacent pair of pockets separated by a double walled divider, the partof said half opposite said edge defining a wall slanting over saidpockets and terminating approximately in the plane defined by saidflanges, said slanting wall having a plurality of openings aligned withsaid pockets.

4. A package half as set forth in claim 3, including a pair of bulges atsaid edge and spaced from each other therealong, said bulges extendinggenerally transverse to said edge.

5. A package made by joining two of the package halves as set forth inclaim 3.

6. A package as set forth in claim 5, wherein at the proximal end ofsaid slanting wall the half defines an undercut, said package includinga cap fitting over the slanting walls of the two halves and having aninwardly projecting rim adjacent the bottom thereof and engaging thehalves at said undercut.

7. A package made by joining two of the package halves as set forth inclaim 1.

8. A package formed of two halves each half being vacuum formed ofrelatively thin plastic, said half having a marginal flange about atleast a portion of the half, said flange having a side which faces thecorresponding side of the other half when the two halves are assembled,said flange extending along opposite ends and an adjacent edge of thehalf, said half, between said ends defining a plurality of pocketsparallel to the ends and each adjacent pair of pockets separated by adouble walled divider, the part of said 33 5 5%??? $3 3%i3%plll?i y'"fnplane defined by said flanges, said slanting wall having a plurality ofopenings aligned with said pockets, the flanges of the two halves beingconnected, at the proximal end of said slanting wall the half definingan undercut, said package including a cap fitting over the slantingwalls of the two halves and having an inwardly projecting rim adjacentthe bottom thereof and engaging the halves at said undercut.

1. A package half for use with an identical half to form a package, saidhalf being vacuum formed of relatively thin plastic, said half having amarginal flange about at least a portion of the half, said flange havinga side which faces the corresponding side of the other half when the twohalves are assembled, said flange having two parts extending therealongand symmetrically positioned with respect to said half, one part havinga first conformation therein which extends substantially the length ofsaid part and defines a first socket on said side and a firstprotuberance on the other side, the other part having a secondconformation therein which extends substantially the length of said partand defines a second protuberance on said side and a second socket onthe other side, said protuberances having relatively long side walls andbeing relatively narrow, said second protuberance being of a size to fitinto said first socket, said conformations including interengaging meansin said side walls to lock said second protuberance in said first socketwhen two of said halves are assembled.
 2. A package half as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said means comprises a peripheral enlargement adjacentthe distal end of the second protuberance and a peripheral enlargementadjacent the proximal end of the socket.
 3. A package half as set forthin claim 1, wherein said flange extends along opposite ends and anadjacent edge of the half, said half, between said ends defining aplurality of pockets parallel to the ends and each adjacent pair ofpockets separated by a double walled divider, the part of said halfopposite said edge defining a wall slanting over said pockets andterminating approximately in the plane defined by said flanges, saidslanting wall having a plurality of openings aligned with said pockets.4. A package half as set forth in claim 3, including a pair of bulges atsaid edge and spaced from each other therealong, said bulges extendinggenerally transverse to said edge.
 5. A package made by joining two ofthe package halves as set forth in claim
 3. 6. A package as set forth inclaim 5, wherein at the proximal end of said slanting wall the halfdefines an undercut, said package including a cap fitting over theslanting walls of the two halves and having an inwardly projecting rimadjacent the bottom thereof and engaging the halves at said undercut. 7.A package made by joining two of the package halves as set forth inclaim
 1. 8. A package formed of two halves each half being vacuum formedof relatively thin plastic, said half having a marginal flange about atleast a portion of the half, said flange having a side which faces thecorresponding side of the other half when the two halves are assembled,said flange extending along opposite ends and an adjacent edge of thehalf, said half, between said ends defining a plurality of pocketsparallel to the ends and each adjacent pair of pockets separated by adouble walled divider, the part of said half opposite said edge defininga wall slanting over said pockets and terminating approximately in theplane defined by said flanges, said slanting wall having a plurality ofopenings aligned with said pockets, the flanges of the two halves beingconnected, at the proximal end of said slanting wall the half definingan undercut, said package including a cap fitting over the slantingwalls of the two halves and having an inwardly projecting rim adjacentthe bottom thereof and engaging the halves at said undercut.